The Unveiling: Book O’clock Review
In April, in the middle of a ravaging pandemic, two 300l students of Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, Nigeria and irredeemable readers decided to start a book club for fellow enthusiasts. They would name it ‘Book O’clock’ after a code that binds their reading — “Everytime is Book O’clock”.
Their aim was to provide a community for readers and lovers of Literature, in a city (Sokoto) and a school (UDUS) in lack of such platforms. And what better time to do so, they thought, than at a time where an escape from all of the COVID horrors was craved.
What started as a book club would grow into becoming a platform where literary journalistic writings like news, interviews with writers and book reviews were published.
Becoming more and more passionate about bringing African creatives to the spotlight, in September, 2020, they decided to rebrand Book O’Clock into an online literary enterprise with a journal for Literary Journalism called Book O’Clock Review, while maintaining the original goal of making Sokoto and Northern Nigeria as a whole more literary-inclined.
About Book O’Clock Review:
Founded in 2020, Book O’Clock Review is an online literary enterprise that seeks to appreciate African art and its creators through the publication of journalistic content like news, features, interviews, essays and reviews.
With a special interest in northern Nigeria, Book O’Clock Review also strives for the advancement of literature in the region. This it achieves through the establishment of book/literary clubs in various schools/institutions in Northern Nigeria, a bookstore where writings from Northern Nigeria are sold and also various social media activities that aim at showcasing literatures from northern Nigeria and her writers. The aim is to rewrite the derisive narrative that the region is artistically backwards and to also spur budding creatives to achieve their full potential.
Meet Book O’Clock Team (Bookies)
Creative Director/Press Lead: Uchenna Emelife
Uchenna Emelife is a reader, a journalist and a creative writer. His works have appeared/forthcoming in Book O’Clock, ICIR Nigeria, The Nation Newspaper, Minority Africa, Punocracy and elsewhere. He is the co-founder of Book O’Clock Review and will serve as one of the Creative Directors and as well the Press Lead of the journal.
Deputy Press Lead: Aisha Hamza Maishanu
Aisha Hamza Maishanu is a 20year old female, a student of literature at Usmanu Danfodio University Sokoto and currently in her third year. She is a writer and a member of Caliphate Arts and Literary Forum. She reads for leisure and enjoys reading English classics more than other books. When she’s not reading you’ll find her watching, if not she’ll be secluded somewhere in quietude. Aisha will serve as Deputy Press Lead at Book O’Clock Review.
Creative Director/Reviews Lead: Rodiyah Omotoyosi Mikail
Rodiyah Omotoyosi Mikail is a journalist, content writer and literary enthusiast. Her works have been published on notable Nigerian dailies and opinion sites like The Nation, Daily Tribune and Opinion Nigeria to mention a few. She was awarded the Female Writer of the Year 2018 by Pen Press UDUS.
An African Liberty Writing Fellow, Rodiyah is also a budding poet and the Deputy Editor-in-Chief of the Poetry Club UDUS. She is the co-founder of Book O’Clock and will serve as one of the Creative Directors as well as Reviews Lead.
Deputy Reviews Lead: Enokela Patience
Patience is a regular girl with an intrinsic love for all the words within the pages of a good book. She has also dabbled in a few short works in her leisure and published articles in magazines. Patience will serve as the Deputy Reviews Lead.
Interviews Lead: Ayobami Kayode Tijani Ahmad
Ayobami Kayode Tijani ah’mad is a student interested in writing and academics. He is a third year Literature in English student at Usmanu Dánfodio University, Sokoto. He hails from Ibadan, Oyo state, Nigeria. When not studying, he is experimenting writing styles on diverse aspects. He will serve as the Interviews Lead of the journal.
Mujahid Ameen Lilo: Deputy Interviews Lead
Mujahid Ameen Lilo is a Nigerian teen author. He studies English and Literature at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. His works have appeared in The Nigeria Review, The Lagos Review, Daily Trust, Blueprint, Praxis, Libretto, Tuck and others. He was Artist of the Month of Yasmin Elrufai Foundation of September 2019. He was the Arts Editor of Daily Chronicle. He participated in the Wole Soyinka International Cultural Exchange Program and UI Poetry Masterclass 2019. He was shortlisted for The Nigeria Prize for Teen Authors, won The Wole Soyinka Essay Competition and the BUK Creative Writers' Poetry Contest. A member of the Hill-Top Creative Art Foundation, he loves butterflies and bananas. Currently working on a novel.
Mujahid will serve as the Deputy Interviews Lead.
Interviewer: Mazeed Mukhtar Oyeleye
Mazeed Mukhtar Oyeleye is a journalist and a creative writer. He is a member of Book O’Clock, Pen Press UDUS and a coordinator at Students for Liberty. He will serve as an interviewer of the journal.
Book Club Coordinator: Rosemary Enokela
Rosemary Enokela is a 300 level student in Medicine. An avid reader of all things letters, her head is almost always buried in the pages of a book. Rosemary is also an aspiring writer and will serve as the Book Club Coordinator.
Book Club co-Coordinator: Emmanuella Adache
Adache Emmanuella is a 300 level student studying Chemistry at Usman Danfodio University Sokoto. She is a reader, a writer and a performance poet that have performed in various stages. Ella’s default activity is reading and she will serve as the co-coordinator of the journal’s affiliated book clubs.
Columns
Book O’Clock Tweetchat:
A monthly literary tweetchat series, where African writers and scholars are invited and engaged on various literary related issues.
Columnist: Uchenna Emelife
Arewa Voices (Coming soon)
A weekly publication to be run on Instagram, where spoken word performances or artistic short story recitations by Northern Nigerian creatives are published.
Columnist: Naimah Abdullahi Sabo
Naimah Abdullahi Sabo was born in Bauchi and raised in the Abuja, Nigeria. As a child she loved reading and writing narrative essays, she eagerly wrote short stories for her classmates in Arrahman International School, Abuja. She proceeded to study education chemistry in Usman Dan fodio University, Sokoto. She is Also a member of CALF (Caliphate arts and literary forum) sokoto state, where her career in writing poetry began and eventually amersed a large online following with her fascinating works. She is currently working on a novel.
Naimah will curate the Arewa Voices column of the journal.
Submission
Submissions to the journal is currently unavailable, but the call will be put out soon. Follow Book O’Clock Review on all social media to keep tabs. Facebook. Twitter. Instagram.
Thank you and we look forward to an amazing journey ahead.
